VET News

Why I Hate Insurance Advertising

I’ll put it here, right up front, I love insurance but I hate insurance advertising. The reason I hate insurance advertising, and so much of the marketing effort around insurance, is because of the crushing insincerity of it all. Whatever you might say about me, nobody has ever accused me of being insincere.

Here are some of the tricks insurers play to get you to buy their policies:

• Sexy ‘Call me now’ types of advertisements
• Increasing premium prices to make it ‘reassuringly expensive’ so you think it’s a better product than it is
• Endlessly comparing prices to say ‘we’re cheaper than them’ – instead of examining their business to be as ‘as cheap as we can be’
• Including endless features in the policy that you will never use, so it looks like a great policy – you pay more and never use the extras
• Listing endless ‘features’ of the policy which are normally included in any policy – like trying to be the most stuffed looking sausage in the butcher’s display cabinet, when they’re all made of the same stuff

And, perhaps worst of all, the cost of the advertising and sales commissions are sometimes the most expensive component of the insurance premium.

Some insurers waste more time and money serving up these tricks than it would take to just make a good policy in the first place.

Here is what I do to create good policies for you:

• I deal directly with the underwriter to minimise ‘middlemen’ and keep prices low
• I process the claims in-house – unlike other insurers whose claims are managed by legal eagles, adding to the cost
• I have a panel of lawyers you can consult for general advice on how to head off any threats
• I only deal with customers who are accredited, licenced or certified to reduce risk and ensure we have few claims
• I understand your risks – that’s accreditation, licencing and certification coming in to play again – so I know the limits of what we need to insure against

Here is what I do instead of advertising

I don’t advertise, but I do promote myself. I use articles like this, and another in The Green List, which I write to inform and entertain, and also to support the publication or organisation. I include similar content in direct email campaigns, and emails sent through professional organisations like Exemplar_Global  – all focussed on informing my clients and potential clients. Fundamentally, these are my rules for doing business:

• I rely on providing good service and low prices, which means I have a steady, loyal set of repeat customers
• I treat my existing policyholders with respect by not discounting new policies at the expense of policy holders who have been loyal for years
• I ignore the competition and only compete with myself to consistently provide the best value insurance policies that I can.

Here is how I know my strategy works

You guys keep coming back to buy my policies! I have been running EnviroSure for over 10 years and there are policy holders that have been with me the whole time. Our rate of churn is much lower than other insurance companies and the size of our business is slowly and steadily growing.

Come over to EnviroSure to see what sets us apart from other business insurance businesses.

Anthony Saunders
Insurance Broker, Risk Transfer and Environmental Insurance Specialist
EnviroSure [CAR No 269649]
p: 1300 7999 50 (Direct Line)
f : (02) 9948 4681
w: www.envirosure.com.au

Anthony Saunders is the principal of EnviroSure Insurance, a specialist Public Liability and Professional Indemnity insurance provider for small businesses and sole traders involved in accreditation, measurement, audit, assessment and associated consulting and training.

Date posted Feb 10, 2022